'SUPPRESSING SPEECH RAISES QUESTIONS'

In this clip from the 3 April episode of the ‘Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast, host Joe Rogan (@joerogan) and political commentator Dave Smith (@comicdavesmith on X, @theproblemdavesmith on IG) discussed how Israel's longtime ally, the United States, not only supports Israel’s military onslaught in Gaza, which the International Court of Justice says is a ‘plausible’ g*nocide, but also suppresses dissenting opinions.

The US has recently ramped up censorship of pro-Palestine voices, arresting activists like Mahmoud Khalil, who organised and participated in campus protests at Columbia University in 2024. He has been detained for over a month, despite the US admitting he committed no crimes. As a US permanent resident, he has the constitutional rights to free speech and free assembly. 

The US also recently announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will screen the social media activities of foreigners, with criticism of Israel or pro-Palestine sentiments being grounds for deportation or denying entry. 

Rogan asserts that what seems like anti-Semitism might be a product of the US government suppressing criticism, as it leads people to question what those in power are trying to hide from the masses. 

Smith also raised why the US still supports Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a warmonger whom Smith likens to former US Senator John McCain (1936-2018), a war hawk. The comedian pointed out that Netanyahu has presented false information over the years to help lead the US into military interventions in other countries, such as Iraq and Libya. Despite this, the US continues to fund Israel, the single largest recipient country of US aid since World War II. 

Perhaps we should believe former US Secretary of State Alexander M Haig (1924-2010) when he said, ‘Israel is the largest American aircraft carrier in the world that cannot be sunk, does not carry even one American soldier, and is located in a critical region for American national security.’

Video credit: @joerogan

Sources

https://apnews.com/article/columbia-university-mahmoud-khalil-ice-15014bcbb921f21a9f704d5acdcae7a8

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/opinion/columnists/all-hail-warmonger-john-mccain-a-true-hero-of-the-military-industrial-complex-1401528

https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/news-releases/dhs-to-begin-screening-aliens-social-media-activity-for-antisemitism

https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/oct/07/usa.iraq1

https://www.c-span.org/clip/house-committee/user-clip-benjamin-netanyahu-projects-the-benefits-of-war-in-iraq-2002/4529789

https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/news-releases/dhs-to-begin-screening-aliens-social-media-activity-for-antisemitism

https://runnermag.ca/2015/03/israel-is-americas-aircraft-carrier-in-the-middle-east

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/04/11/zjrk-a11.html